Asteroid Rotation Periods: Statistical Analysis in the Diameter-Spin Distribution

Maryam Nastaran; Atila Poro; Raziyeh Hosseini; Matin Najarzadeh

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arXiv · 2508.17415

Asteroid Rotation Periods: Statistical Analysis in the Diameter-Spin Distribution

Maryam Nastaran·Atila Poro·Raziyeh Hosseini·Matin Najarzadeh

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Abstract

This study examines the rotational characteristics of asteroids through statistical modeling of the diameter-period relationship. A statistical evaluation of the diameter-period relationship was conducted using a dataset of 34,326 asteroids. Clustering identified three main groups, including a dense cluster below the spin barrier, a population of small, fast-rotating asteroids, and a more diffuse group. Geometric and density-based analyses showed that the densest region consists of objects with diameters from 3 to 10 km and rotation periods between 3 and 9 hours, some of which extend beyond the spin barrier. Polynomial modeling demonstrated that a third-degree fit provides the most stable representation of the overall trend without overfitting. Additionally, an empirical lower boundary was identified and proposed, below which no asteroid was found in either the main sample or the selected targets.

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Maryam Nastaran, Atila Poro, Raziyeh Hosseini, Matin Najarzadeh. 2025-08-24. Asteroid Rotation Periods: Statistical Analysis in the Diameter-Spin Distribution. https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.17415

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